A North Carolina construction worker is counting his lucky stars after winning a scratch-off jackpot not once, but twice, in the span of just as many years.
Pharris Frank, 41, was already a near-millionaire when he bought his second winning ticket last week while out on a job in Morehead City.
Stopping at a local gas station for a bite, Frank bought the $20 Diamond Dazzle ticket – with a one-in-1,528,470 chance of hitting its eyewatering $2million top prize.
And against all odds, the blue collar worker hit – leading him to call his wife at their home four hours away to tell her about the life-changing haul.
However, Frank and his wife already saw their lives change in 2021 in a startling similar manner with a separate $1million jackpot on a $25 Extreme Cash scratcher -whose odds were an even more astronomical one-in-2,017,650.
DEJA VU: Pharris Frank – seen here with his wife – was a near-millionaire when he bought his second ticket last week (at left), for a $900,000 lump sum after taxes. That came on on top of $425,000 he won from a jackpot in 2021 – for a twofold win whose odds are one in three trillion
The Lucky laborer bought the winning ticket while out on a job the Handy House gas station food mart – a location across the state from his home and where he purchased his first winner
The odds of securing the consecutive top prizes are an astounding one in three trillion – amounting to not only millions, but an occurrence roughly 200million times more rare than being stuck by lighting.
Speaking to the lotto company who sold him the winning tickets Monday, the lucky laborer insisted that he accurately predicted his second win following his initial one in July 2021.
He added how he felt it amazing that he had purchased the second ticket a considerable distance from where he had bought the first, back more than four hours away in his and his wife’s native Advance.
‘It’s crazy because the day before I won, my buddy was asking me how it felt to win $1 million,’ he told NC Lottery on Monday after electing to take the game’s lump sum option – which, after taxes, amounts to $855,006.
‘I told him that I was going to double it.’
And double it he did – with the nearly $900,000 sum coming on top of roughly $425,000 he already received from the winning 2021 ticket, for which he also chose to take home one flat payment instead of an annuity option paid over 20 years.
Originally $600,000, lump sum for that win, after state and federal tax withholdings, amounted to $424,507 – an amount he and his then-fiancée said at the time they were planning to save for a dream wedding.
With that day now come and passed, it appears the pair’s dreams are still being amended, with Frank now recalling how he almost pinched himself last week upon seeing that he had won again, despite forecasting it himself.
Stopping at the gas station for a bite, Frank bought the $20 Diamond Dazzle ticket – with a one-in-1,528,470 chance of hitting its eyewatering $2million top prize
The nearly $900,000 sum came on top of roughly $425,000 he received from the first winning $25 ticket, seen here
‘I didn’t know if I was dreaming or not,’ he told the local lotto company. ‘I was just in shock for a while.’
While laughing about his luck, he said: ‘I called my wife and told her, ‘I did it again.”
Frank further revealed he had bought the winning ticket from the Handy House gas station food mart – a location across the state from his home and where he purchased the first ticket, Rivertrail Mercantile on U.S. 64 East in Advance.
‘It’s cool because the first time I won it was two miles from my house and this time I was four and a half hours away,’ the construction worker marveled.
‘What are the chances of me being down there at that exact moment in time.’
He claimed his prize Monday, posing with a novelty check for a photo almost identical to the one snapped two summers ago during the pandemic.
After saving most of the first jackpot and spending a chunk on a wedding ceremony, Frank says he plans to spend some of his latest winnings on a romantic getaway for he and his beloved.
After saving most of the first jackpot and spending a chunk on a wedding ceremony, Frank says he plans to spend some of his latest winnings on a romantic getaway for he and his beloved
